Creating an open, daily (research & prototyping) co-design and co-being space for unMonasterians and Materans

mishek · September 5, 2013, 5:02pm

This whole idea of a group of foreigners landing in unknown territory to somehow participate and take part in one anothers lives raises a few challenges. Ostensibly the group of foreigners (edgeryders) are initially there to meet one another, share and learn some new skills but then also turn some of that energy around into the surrounding neighbourhood and city beyond. We are supposing that from day one of the gathering local Materans are also invited to somehow join in the LOTE process along with the design of the present/future unMon.

But what do the entry points look like for ‘ordinary’ local folk? And even for some of us ‘ordinary’ unlocal, edgeryder folk? What kind of meeting grounds are we actually preparing for one another? What do we hope to be communicating with one another? Who will translate for who? Is it simply about translating words or do we rather hope to be translating truly innovative, yet unspoken, even untranslatable, intentions, ideas, dreams and ways of being, ways of taking action? This will be a bunch of humans coming together with the desire to somehow collaborate and learn from on another, to codesign new urban, social as well as very personal possibilities. What do humans need?

How do we create space for body/minds/spirits to stay integrated, feel present, embodied and sustainable in an environment of high level learning, innovation and exchange? What will a group of foreigners and locals meeting up need in order to feel comfortable in themselves, to truly step forward, to put forward their various thoughts, ideas, viewpoints? And what kind of space or spaces will they need so as to then try things out, to create…make mistakes, play, experiment, co-work, prototype…?

Ok so these are simply the beginnings of a few of my questions. What is this gathering and exchange going to look and feel like to all of us aliens when we land on this new planet? I want to hear more about hosting/curating some sort of open, common learning space for us all (in body/mind/spirit) to feel welcome. I do have a few ideas of my own but no point in sharing unless I am even on the same page as anyone else. Thanks.

nadia · September 12, 2013, 12:43pm

Things that don’t require so many words?

Breaking bread, making pasta together, doing Yoga and other rituals/activity that are simple and valuable in and of themselves. I think [Bembo] has some more ideas. Perhaps walks or guided tours could be another?

mishek · October 3, 2013, 1:07pm

Ditto

Yes you are right Nadia, making food, sharing chores of different sorts, there will be plenty to choose from I’m sure we will discover.

What I’m aiming towards is a more abstract, playful, emergent kind of space that lends itself to opening up the personal/social imagination. I would like to see a space that could support the exploration of non-rational (and yet physical) forms of problem solving. A here and now, somatic based platform as opposed to the globally distributed, electronic platform a lot of you are spending time to code. I want to get back to some basics in how we relate and potentially co-create or co-design amongst ourselves. I am interested in the wisdom our bodies and souls have to offer us, creating safe space for some vulnerability or accidental wisdom to appear. We’re coming from so many different tangents, not to mention languages, that a space dedicated to researching and exploring what we have in common as human beings on our various learning journeys will be essential in getting a better ‘sense’ of who, we as ‘edgeryders’, are and then what we might be able to do with, or for, one other.

It is so far a little overwhelming for me to try and grasp or meaningfully place myself within any one theme or track within this organisation. My need is for a more solid, grounding space or platform (that does not rely on a lot of words & potentially empty promises) from which to work…to base myself, stay present, whole and thus feel productive.

It would be a bit of an un-languaging, un-learning space…an un-organisation space? Maybe in the sense of the slow food movement this would be the slow organising movement? The slow worker movement? Matera is probably a good candidate as a slow city already!

noemi · October 17, 2013, 2:13pm

“un-languaging”

I really like your comment above Michael because it says a lot about our different and diverse styles of engaging with one another. I remember the few of us remaining in one of the community calls and that’s when it became clear to me that you are making a lot of efforts to engage throughout this platform despite the huge amount of vocabulary or organisation work/ wording of the calls that may simply not touch you. I think I have a lot to learn from both you, David, or Dorotea in terms of un-languaging. And especially how you would answer “who, we as ‘edgeryders’, are and then what we might be able to do with, or for, one other”. I’ll be joining the unDojo space for sure.

But this still doesn’t answer the question in your post about an intimate, common space for Materani and foreigners. I’d agree with Nadia that this is best created through shared activities, rather than designed and prototyped, and increased agency in one of the two groups, in this case ours.

iwas · October 17, 2013, 2:47pm

beyond rational

I appreciate your comment Michael. This is one of the reasons I am making the journey to Matera … to see what there is for me to connect to and partake in beyond that which comes across through the online platform. I am very curious to see what my impression of EdgeRyders will be after spending time together in physical proximity.

I would be happy to rephrase what you call non-rational to a more specific “beyond rational” (non-rational also leaves the door open to stupidity). I believe that one of the defining qualities of being on the edge is openness to that which we cannot (by definition) comprehend. My experience of EdgeRyders (mostly as an online space) has been that is leans towards intellect and rational … which to me is limiting and can close the door on creativity.

I believe the digital tools we choose to shape our online, collaborative community life AND the way we use them needs to respect that which is “beyond rational” … or at the very least to be full-of-care not to overrun it. Writing these words has got me wondering if in choosing and designing our tools we should consciously introduce disruptive elements and not just tools that make everything smoother and easier (since smoother and easier may give an unhealthy boost to rational at the expense of beyond-rational).

I personally place great value on the digital tools because my personal needs and life choices have reduced my access to physical proximity. I am where I work best, I do my best thinking while working physically outside … but then I count on the help of online tools to connect with others and transform my thoughts into actions.

I would like to see the qualities you mention extend into EdgeRyders beyond the once-a-year coming together. I don’t know if/how this is possible.

Will you be coming to the morning Yoga sessions? It is my intention to tap into a bubble of energy that has some of the qualities you describe … and to offer an opportunity to reflect, share and communicate within that bubble of energy.

dorotea · October 10, 2013, 4:46pm

this session has joined the unDojo Space

this session proposal has co-joined the unDojo Space at Lote3 and is part of hosts committee ongoing session proposal.

vidrij_da · October 18, 2013, 3:07am

About how we communicate, express, sense or comprehend thru ERs

Mishek said:

It is so far a little overwhelming for me to try and grasp or meaningfully place myself within any one theme or track within this organisation. My need is for a more solid, grounding space or platform (that does not rely on a lot of words & potentially empty promises) from which to work…to base myself, stay present, whole and thus feel productive. - See more at: https://edgeryders.eu/comment/6907#comment-6907

iamronan responded:

I believe the digital tools we choose to shape our online, collaborative community life AND the way we use them needs to respect that which is “beyond rational” … or at the very least to be full-of-care not to overrun it. Writing these words has got me wondering if in choosing and designing our tools we should consciously introduce disruptive elements and not just tools that make everything smoother and easier (since smoother and easier may give an unhealthy boost to rational at the expense of beyond-rational). - See more at: https://edgeryders.eu/comment/6907#comment-6907

David Ridge ( Vidrij Da) suggests:

WE COULD ABSTRACT THE CONCRETE

The above comments ~ about how we communicate, express, sense or comprehend through EdgeRyders ~ invites me to imagine an option where EVERY piece of (on-line) communication via ERs could be divided into two columns, the left being “mainstream” and the right being “margin”:

MAINSTREAM (left column) being the…

point, the proposal, or suggestion, solution, thing, article, item, entity, body, something, device, gadget, artefact, phenomenon, aim, objective, purpose, goal, target, intention, idea, motive, end, reason, ambition, design, etc… (i.e. the object experience in life)

MARGIN (right column) being the triggers, inspirations and reactions to the accompanying text…

spatial expressions or images or video improvisations around capacity, room, expanse, sweep, stretch, latitude, scope, range, play, silence, non-verbal expression, clearance, elbow-room, Lebensraum, leeway, accommodation, area, volume, extent, amplitude, omission, gap, break, opening, interval, intermission, chasm, lacuna, interstice, period, stretch, span, spell, time, shift, etc… (i.e. the space experience in life)

In Addition:

There could be symbolic ratings alongside each paragraph in the ‘Mainstream’ for promoting Plain English (1 - 5 crystal glasses?) and a tick box for ‘English, she not my mother tongue!’

Similarly, the ‘Margin’ column of images and imaginative responses could have symbol ratings (1 - 5 cloudy-to-clear skies?) denoting whether the responding image, poem, physical gesture, joke or juxtaposed bit of ‘beyond-rational’ was found to be evocative, humorous or have resonance.

Opt in or out

We could each choose the option to receive existing traditional text communications without a complimentary column, or instead to receive the dual track with an extra column of off-the-wall expressions. (Bring on the app that turns copy into comic!)

Rationale

There is an appetite in people for non-verbal/non-literate expression beyond words and proposals. Why not give this actual space?
A certain proportion of people who we meet and enthusiastically encourage to check out ERs come back and say, “Great concept but found the language a bit hard to connect with”.
Many individuals in ERs are from the margins, the place where almost all progressive social change has emerged, but when we get together through ER on-line, in Hangouts or at Lote, we are then creating a mainstream. Let’s play around with where we belong.

PS. I tried to create the above in two columns with a right column displaying non-word responses to demonstrate what I am trying to suggest but I don’t have the formatting skills. unDojo is the PHYSICAL space we have proposed to be a complimentary alternative to the wordy unConference realm. Above is just to explore the same alternatives for an on-line context. Apologies, dear reader, for all these words, here’s a little envelope of space = [ ].